A missing rifle Alex Murdaugh bought for his son Paul could be the murder weapon, as an expert told jurors the markings on the ammunition used to kill Maggie are identical to those on other grenades found in the hunting lodge of the family were found.
Paul Greer, a weapons expert with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), told jurors Friday that .300 blackout casings discovered near Maggie’s body came from the same firearm as shells found outside of the gun room in the House, in a field and were found at gun range.
Prosecutors say Murdaugh killed Paul, 22, and Maggie, 52, on the night of June 7, 2021 in the kennels of the family’s estate in South Carolina’s Lowcountry.
Paul was shot twice with a shotgun while Maggie was shot five times with an assault rifle loaded with .300 Blackout.
No murder weapon has ever been identified. However, the jury heard of two .300 Blackout rifles owned by the Murdaughs, which are unknown.
Murdaugh bought two .300 Blackout rifles (pictured) as Christmas gifts for his sons Buster and Paul in 2016. Paul lost his gun and a replacement rifle, a third .300 Blackout, was purchased in April 2018. Neither the lost gun nor its replacement were ever accounted for
Maggie and Paul Murdaugh (left) were murdered in June 2021. Alex denies the murders. Pictured on the right is her eldest son, Buster
Greer said the grenades found at Maggie and elsewhere on the estate “were loaded, extracted and ejected from the same firearm at an earlier date”.
The defense attacked Greer’s evidence, arguing that it was impossible to know if the cases had been shot by the same gun without ever recovering them.
Defense attorney Jim Griffin claimed that two different .300 Blackout rifles could leave the same marks on a cartridge case.
Griffin grilled Greer about whether every single blackout rifle in the world leaves its own distinctive tool mark on the cartridge case it ejects.
The weapons expert didn’t answer directly, saying, “It’s hard to say,” but he stuck to his conclusions.
Pressed for an answer, he said he couldn’t give a yes or no because he hadn’t seen every .300 blackout in the world.
He also admitted that firing pin markings on the grenades were inconclusive, but breech, extractor, and ejector markings all matched.
The expert also testified about the two shotgun shells recovered from the feed room where Paul was killed. He said these were fired from the same shotgun.
Murdaugh was holding a 12-gauge Benelli shotgun when police arrived on the night of the killings – he said to protect himself in case the shooters were still around.
Greer said the shells loaded into this gun matched “in construction and headstamp information” the spent shells found near Paul.
But Greer’s findings were inconclusive as to whether that gun or another similar weapon fired the grenades.
The jury heard earlier this week that Murdaugh bought two .300 Blackout rifles as Christmas gifts for his two sons, Buster and Paul, in 2016. Paul lost his gun and a replacement rifle, a third .300 Blackout, was purchased in April 2018.
Murdaugh’s cousin, John Bedingfield, a gun dealer, said Murdaugh paid $9,188 for the two original .300 Blackout rifles. They were each equipped with a thermal telescopic sight and a silencer.
The replacement rifle bought two years later cost him $875 because it did not have the same attachments.
It was Paul’s mother, Maggie, who picked up the guns when they were ready.
SLED Agent Jeff Croft holds the only .300 Blackout rifle recovered from the Murdaugh estate – two others remain missing
MURDAUGH GUN CABINET: During his interview with police, Murdaugh said there were likely 25 guns on the property. He said there were “all kinds of rifles” in addition to the camouflaged shotguns that the officers took from him when they arrived. He added: “I mean you name them, we got them”
Murdaugh told police that Paul tended to “hang out” his belongings everywhere, including guns.
“He left everything everywhere, and it wasn’t unusual that there were guns out there,” he told detectives on June 10, 2021 — three days after the murders.
On the night of the murders, Maggie was found face down after being shot five times, according to a report by forensic scientist Kenneth Kinsey.
He suggested that three of the shots hit her while she was standing.
Two of the shots would have been instantly fatal, piercing her brain. One of those shots went through her left breast, the other was fired into the back of her head.
One of those bullets hit her while she was “getting on her knees and … holding her right hand with her shoulders and head down.”
Paul was also found face down. He was first hit in the chest from “several feet away”, making him stand and head for a door before a second shot to the neck and shoulder blew out his brain.
“The brain was severed and exited through the anatomical right side of his head. … The brain was completely separate from (his) head,” Kinsey said.
Prosecutors are still laying out their case, which includes video showing Murdaugh moments before shooting the couple at the scene.
He denies the murders and says he was visiting his elderly mother at the time of the murders.
Earlier this week, jurors were shown video taken by Paul at 8:44 p.m. in the kennel, in which two witnesses told jurors they could hear Alex and Maggie’s voices.
All activity on Maggie and Paul’s cell phones suddenly ceased at 8:49 p.m. – which is when prosecutors said they were killed.
WHERE MAGGIE DIED: A pool of blood can be seen outside the kennels near the kennel where Maggie Murdaugh was shot in the head with two AR bullets
WHERE PAUL DIED: Blood spatter on the floor in the kennel storeroom where Paul Murdaugh was shot. He was killed with one shot in the chest and a second in the head. Two shotgun shells were seized by police – two 12 gauge, two different brands – one Federal, the other Winchester
MURDER SCENE: Paul’s body lies outside the storage room while Maggie lies just outside the kennel by the kennel
Murdaugh claims he last saw his wife and son having dinner together around 8:15 p.m.
He said he fell asleep in front of the TV while Maggie and Paul went to the kennels.
The alleged killer said he tried calling Maggie before visiting his mother, who has late-stage Alzheimer’s disease. Call logs show Murdaugh attempted to call Maggie three times between 9:04 p.m. and 9:06 p.m. She hasn’t picked up.
At 9.06pm he started his Chevrolet Suburban and texted Maggie that he would be right back to check on his mother who lives about 15 minutes away.
Murdaugh called his wife twice more – apparently on the way home – at 9:45 p.m. and 10:03 p.m. She did not answer.
Waters told jurors last week it was “for you to decide if he’s trying to create an alibi.”
Murdaugh claims when he got back to the house he found Maggie and Paul dead in the kennel. He called 911 at 10:07 p.m.
SCHEDULE: NIGHT OF THE KILLS
Alex Murdaugh, 54, is accused of shooting dead his wife Maggie, 52, and younger son Paul, 22, on the night of June 7, 2021 at the family’s hunting property in Islandton, South Carolina.
Here are the key events in the timeline established by the prosecution:
At 7.56pm, Paul sent a Snapchat video to friends showing the 22-year-old driving around the property with his father.
Around 8:15 p.m., Murdaugh’s wife, Maggie, came home and the trio had dinner together. Autopsies showed similar stomach contents for Maggie and Paul.
Around 8:30 p.m., Paul’s phone moves in the direction of the kennel.
Then, at 8.44pm, a second video taken by Paul in the kennel – soon to lead to a murder scene – allegedly proves Maggie, Paul and Alex were together.
At 8:49 p.m., prosecutors say Paul and Maggie’s phones are locked and gone forever, never to text or make another call.
Prosecutors say the couple were killed shortly afterwards.
At 9:06 p.m., Murdaugh’s car is set on fire.
The alleged killer said he was visiting his mother in Almeda, about 15 minutes’ drive away, who has late-stage Alzheimer’s disease.
At 10:07 p.m., Murdaugh called 911 and claimed he got home to find his wife and son shot.